RECENT NEWS

U.S. Government Shutdown

17 October 2025

As of October 17, 2025, the U.S. Congress has not passed a budget to fund the federal government for the new fiscal year which began on Oct 1, 2025. As a result, the federal government shut down, and will remain closed until Congress approves a new budget.

While the shutdown affects the day-to-day functioning of many federal agencies, the primary agencies relevant to international students and scholars in the U.S. are continuing to operate. U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) are fee-funded agencies. This means they are expected to continue processing requests, petitions and benefits as usual. While there are routinely delays in USCIS processing of certain requests such as OPT I-765 applications for temporary work cards, F-1 I-539 reinstatement requests, and I-539 changes of status requests, the government shutdown should not worsen these delays.

You can find general information regarding the effects of the government shutdown here.

Proposed rule to eliminate
‘‘D/S” (Duration of Status)

30 September 2025

This is a proposed regulation to remove the Duration of Status (D/S) notation given to students upon admission to the U.S.  If implemented as is, it would limit the duration of stay (D/S) allowed to international students and require extensions of stay to be filed with USCIS.

Background: F-1 students and J-1 students and scholars are admitted to the U.S. with a D/S notation, meaning they are admitted to the U.S. for “Duration of Status”, and not for a date-certain end date issued to most non-immigrant visitors.  This means that if a student is studying at a U.S. college or university, they can extend their stay in the U.S. simply by requesting that extension from their immigration advisor at the admitting school.  These immigration advisors, called “Designated School Officials” or DSO’s, review the reasons for the needed extension, enter the new end date in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System ((SEVIS), and issue a new I-20 form, or DS-2019 form to the student or scholar. There is no required application to USCIS, no government application fee, and no lengthy processing delay based on government backlogs.  This proposed rule changes the process for extensions and limits some other currently allowed F-1 and J-1 benefits such as changes of academic level, extensions, transfers, limits on length of programs.

If the rule is implemented as is, international students and scholars may face increased delays when applying to USCIS for status extensions, changes of academic programs, transfers to new schools; increased fees and government paperwork; and possible denials of requests based on USCIS interpretations of the academic requirements for each request.  The comment period for this rule closes on October 27, 2025.  The government must publicly address all submitted comments and make any needed changes prior to publishing the final rule.

Find the full published proposed rule here. 

Weighted selection process for H-1B petitions - proposed regulation

24 September 2025

This is a proposed regulation to apply a weighted selection process based on wage levels to determine access to the H-1B lottery program. Instead of a purely random lottery, USCIS would assign more entries to H-1B registrations offering higher wages, based on the Department of Labor’s four wage levels. 

Background: The U.S. government limits the number of H-1B work visas allowed to all U.S. for-profit companies each year to 85,000.  Non-profit institutions, universities and colleges, are exempt from this annual limit.

Over the last decade, the number of H-1B visa applications have greatly exceeded the allowed number of H-1B visas.  In April of 2025, for example, the U.S. received five times more H petitions than there were available H visas.  As a result, the government implemented a random lottery system in March of 2020.  Sponsoring employers are required to register for a lottery in order to have a chance to gain a slot for filing an H petition.

An H-1B petition must include an analysis of the offered wage based on the requirements of the job and the geographic area. This analysis uses data from the Department of Labor wage database, or other private wage surveys or analysis.  Each position is assigned a wage level between 1 and 4 - 1 being entry level and 4 being fully competent.  This proposed regulation would change the H lottery from a random process to one that is weighted based on the wage level offered. Petitions offering a Level 4 wage would receive 4 chances in the lottery; Level 3 wages would receive 3 entries; Level 2 wages, 2 entries, and LEvel 1 wages, 1 entry. This would likely skew the results of the lottery to heavily favor the selection of H petitions that were paying higher level wages, and disadvantage petitions that were for entry level positions (even if the entry level wage was high but still categorized as a Level 1 wage).

Prevailing wage information from the Department of Labor can be found here.

You can view the proposed rule here.

Presidential Proclamation regarding a new $100,000 fee for some H-1B petitions

September 2025

A presidential proclamation was issued on September 19, 2025, requiring a new $100,000 fee for certain new H-1B petition filings and / or visa applications. Titled, "Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers,", the proclamation took effect September 21, 2025, however information regarding how or when the fee will be required has not yet been clarified by U.S. government agencies.

The language of the proclamation seems to indicate that the fee will be required for all “new” H-1B petitions filed in the U.S. on behalf of employees who are outside the U.S, and prior to the entry to the U.S. of any new H-1B visa holder.  It is not clear if it applies to current employees in the U.S. who hold valid H-1B status, but who need to depart the U.S. and apply for a new visa to re-enter. 

Section 1(c) of the proclamation states that the fee shall not apply to individuals or industries if the Secretary of Homeland Security  determines them to be in the national interest.  There is no clarification yet as to how a sponsor may apply for this exemption.

The proclamation also seems to target tech companies, but again, the specific language does not clearly state which industries are affected, and whether higher education may be exempt from the fee.


UPDATE: On October 16, 2025, a lawsuit was filed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, challenging the application of this fee. Read more.

Shorter new visas for certain countries

September 2025

Changes to the Visa Reciprocity tables for certain countries.  Changes were made to the duration of visas issued for certain countries, and the number of entries allowed per visa issued.  Check updates here.

Additional restrictions on allowed visa interview waivers

September 2025

As an update to the visa waiver changes announced in July 2025, effective October 1, 2025, F and J student visa applicants are no longer eligible for visa application interview waivers. Previously, F and J students were able to waive out of the visa interview if they were applying to renew a visa that had expired within the previous 48 months, and they were applying in their home country.  This is no longer the case, and students can probably expect to see increasing delays in getting visa application appointments. See here.

Data tracking requirement changes for U.S. schools

September 2025

A proposed regulation was published on September 3, 2025, requiring additional data tracking for the F-1 I-20 form and the sponsoring school’s I-17 form.  The additional fields that would need to be tracked by schools would include 

  • more specific information pertaining to the educational level, degree, program of study, time necessary to complete the program, assigned Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code, and mode of instruction - specifically whether the course is online, in a hybrid or low residency format.  

  • Relating to employment and experiential earning, schools would need to report as to whether Curricular Practical Training (CPT) is required by any program of study.  

  • The schools will be able to list differing program costs by degree level, along with other changes relating to reporting on DSO information. 

  • More specific information on financial resources for the student, whether the student is working on campus, or performing other employment or training. 

  • The proposed regulation can be reviewed here. 

Increased social media vetting in some USCIS applications

19 August 2025

The U.S. The Department of State (DoS) began scrutinizing social media postings and content of some student visa applicants during the visa application process. USCIS is now implementing a similar policy, to allow scrutiny of social media accounts held by people submitting certain applications.  These would include Adjustment of Status (I-485), Applications to Change or Extend Status, or file for F-1 Reinstatement (I-539).

Learn more here. 

Visa interview waiver process revisions

29 July 2025

The Department of State issued updated nonimmigrant-visa interview waiver criteria, superseding the interview waiver update from February 18, 2025, and requiring more individuals to have in-person interviews at U.S. Consulates when processing for a visa. As of September 2, 2025, DOS will require in-person interviews for individuals on F, H-1B, and L visas. See here.

Proposal for new visa integrity fee

July 2025

The Budget bill passed in July 2025 included several new visa fees to be implemented at the agency level in the future.  These included a new visa application fee of at least $250., and an I-94 fee of at least $24., among others. See here.

Revised incident reporting requirement

July 2025

The U.S. State department is amending the reporting requirements for J-1 exchange visitors to include a requirement that the J-1 program sponsors report to the State Department any J-1 who participates in terrorist activities, endorsement of terrorist activities, or antisemitic activities. See here. 

Social media vetting at the State Department 

June 2025

The U.S. State Department issued an announcement regarding mandatory social media vetting for all F, M and J visa applicants – and ended the pause on visa appointments that had been in effect since late May 2025. See this link for more information. 

The judge in a lawsuit filed in July 2025 relating to whether political opinion can be used in immigration processing has ruled that the Administration's arrests and deportations of international students based on their voicing of political opinions is unconstitutional. See here.

Travel bans to the U.S. 

4 June 2025

The U.S. issued travel bans and restrictions for certain countries as published in Presidential Proclamation 10949.


Full restriction on entry: Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.

Partial restriction on entry: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela

Additional countries listed later in June that could be subject to restrictions in the future: Angola; Antigua and Barbuda; Benin; Bhutan; Burkina Faso; Cabo Verde; Cambodia; Cameroon; Democratic Republic of Congo; Djibouti; Dominica; Ethiopia; Egypt; Gabon; Gambia; Ghana; Ivory Coast; Kyrgyzstan; Liberia; Malawi; Mauritania; Niger; Nigeria; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Sao Tome and Principe; Senegal; South Sudan; Syria; Tanzania; Tonga; Tuvalu; Uganda; Vanuatu; Zambia; and Zimbabwe.

May 2025 Updates

  • Pause in student visa appointment scheduling and processing

  • Published revocations of some Chinese student visas based on Chinese Communist Party (CCP) membership; includes enhanced visa scrutiny

  • OPT record terminations for students who exceed the allowed number of unemployed days. SEVP issued a letter to international students who had no reported employment under OPT for more than 90 days. The letter confirmed that the SEVIS record would be terminated based on exceeding the limited number of unemployment days allowed. Learn more here.

April 2025 Updates

  • Some SEVIS records were terminated by Immigration Customs Enforcement with no advance notice to students.  These were sometimes based on visa revocations by the U.S. State Department.  Following numerous lawsuits filed on behalf of these students, the terminated records were reactivated. For more information, see here.

  • Increased review of visa applicant social media content for adverse postings and antisemitic content.

  • U.S. Dept. of State again began updating the visa processing wait times for U.S. Consulates.  This had been paused since January 2025.

March 2025 Updates

  • USCIS proposes to collect social media information on certain immigration forms to enhance screening and vetting of applicants. See here.

  • Application for a new social security card is no longer linked within the I-765 application for a temporary work card.  If you are applying for OPT and have not yet applied for or received a U.S. Social Security Number, you will need to process the SSN application separately from the OPT application.  Information on applying for a social security number can be found on the Social Security Administration website. 

February 2025 Updates

  • The Department of State updated the categories of applicants who may be eligible for a waiver of the non-immigrant visa interview (sometimes referred to as “dropbox” eligibility). The updated guidelines reduce the eligibility window so that only applicants whose visas have expired within 12 months of their renewal application and only those renewing a visa in the same nonimmigrant category can qualify for a visa-interview waiver. See here.

  • Updated registration requirements for non-immigrants present in the U.S.  Most persons admitted to the U.S. through a U.S. Port of Entry have already been registered.  Children who were admitted while they were under the age of 14, who then turn 14 in the U.S., are required to be re-registered. See here.

January 2025 Updates

  • A new H-1B modernization rule extends the cap-gap period for F-1 students with an approved OPT and a pending or approved H-1B petition by six months, from the previous end date of October 1 to April 1 of the relevant fiscal year. See here.

    • This is a positive change for students who are approved for a cap-gap extension of their OPT period, who also have a pending or approved H-1B petition. Instead of having the cap-gap OPT extension expire on October 1, the extension will be valid until April 1 of the following year. This is very useful if the H petition doesn’t get approved, or begins, after October 1.

  • Executive Order (EO) 14161 regarding Extreme Vetting imposes enhanced vetting and screening requirements across various federal agencies, including the Departments of State and Homeland Security 

December 2024 Updates

  • Amended J-1 Skills List: The Department of State updated the J-1 Skills list, removing 37 countries from the list retroactively. This means that J-1 exchange visitors from the removed countries are no longer subject to the 212(e) regulation based on the Skills list. See here.

    • A list of the 37 countries which have been removed from the J-1 Skills list can be viewed here.  

U.S. immigration regulations are rapidly changing. Immigration rules can change quickly, and what is accurate today may not be true tomorrow. This information is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For specific immigration questions or complex situations, consult with a qualified immigration attorney.